Leeds nursery expansion plans expected to be turned down

Planning chiefs are being advised to reject plans to create a new teaching building at a nursery in North Leeds.

Proposals to build a new teaching block at Montessori School and Day Nursery, in Wetherby Road, Roundhay, are set to go before Leeds City Council’s North and East Plans Panel on Thursday.

But a document from council officers, to go before decision-makers on the panel, says the move would increase the numbers of children attending the nursery which would lead to unreasonable levels of traffic in the area.

Plans had been submitted to build a single-storey detached building to teach an extra 20 three or four-year-old pupils per year, along with new decking towards the rear of the school.

The school currently has 79 pupils. The number of pupils would increase to 99.

But a planning report states that the move would only worsen existing traffic problems in the area.

The document states: “The proposal will result in an increase in the number of pupils attending the nursery and this is likely to exacerbate the high levels of on-street parking and congestion issues that are currently experienced on Wetherby Road during peak hours.

“Currently the school has no parking provisions and parents have to pick up and drop of children on the main road. The Highways Officer has considered the parking and traffic implications of the additional intake of pupils and have raised significant highway safety issues.”

It added that parking issues were exacerbated by the lack of space in the adjacent Roundhay School’s car park, but stressed this did not affect the assessment.

A decision will be made by the council’s north and east plans panel on Thursday.